FILE: Roosevelt elk roam in Orick, Calif.

A small, rural gateway town on California’s North Coast is losing its only gas station, leaving a 40-mile gap on Highway 101.

Last week, the Yurok Economic Development Corporation (the economic branch of the Yurok Tribe) announced that the Shoreline Fuel Mart in Orick will close on Jan. 1. Its absence will create a roughly 40-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101 between Trinidad and Klamath without a fueling station for an unknown period. Orick is a gateway town to Redwood National and State Parks.

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